the story starts
by littleblackbirds
Summary: ...with someone new. (Adrien/Marinette)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a five-part story, which means ONLY five chapters unless I can't fit it all in those five. I'm hoping I can though.**

 **Inspired by the lovely song: "Dreaming Alone" by Against the Current feat. Taka from ONE OK ROCK. You should definitely check it out.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

 **ADRIEN**

 _"The story starts laying in the dark with someone new."_

Marinette is an interesting girl.

She is sweet, kind, loving, _(cute)_ and Adrien can't help but wonder why she acts so different around him. In the beginning, he thought it was because she was just shy, but the more he noticed her, the more he realized she only became nervous around him.

So when he first met her as Chat Noir, he was surprised.

It was like she was a different person when he, _Adrien_ , wasn't around. Marinette didn't fumble with her words or look away—she spoke with confidence, smirking and teasing him of someone else that he couldn't quite place.

He wanted to see more of it, that side of her.

Adrien started watching her after that. When she spoke with her friend Alya or their other classmates, she didn't shrink into herself or look down. She spoke with a ( _lovely_ ) smile and gestured wildly with her hands; it was nice to see her come out of her shell. But the one time Marinette caught sight of his stare (right in the middle of telling Alya about a show she'd watched the other day), she turned beet red and started fidgeting, offering him a strained smile. (He'd waved and smiled at her as to not look suspicious, but she just became even more flustered before waving back.)

When he found out it was just _him_ she acted like that around, he wanted to know why. Adrien liked Marinette and wants to be friends with her, but it's so hard to get close to a girl who seems to shut herself away whenever he's in the same room. Which was why he was running around as Chat Noir to go talk to her. It wasn't the greatest plan, but he wasn't getting anywhere with her as himself.

So Chat Noir it was.

He drops down by her window, leaning against it casually ( _coolly)_ and raps his knuckles against the glass. He didn't have to wait long for Marinette to notice him. He grins easily, inwardly laughing at her shocked face as she opens the window.

"Chat?"

"Hello, Princess," he greets with a charming smirk, bowing at the waist.

"What are you doing here?" Marinette asks, glancing around, obviously worrying that someone might catch sight of him.

"Am I not allowed to visit my Princess?" he pouts playfully, tilting his head to the side. Marinette arches a brow and crosses her arms, and for a second his Lady pops into his head. Adrien mentally shakes that image out of his mind and stands a little straighter, gesturing towards her room. "May I come in?"

She hesitates for a second, pretty blue eyes dancing to her door and down at the street, before shaking her head. His face _almost_ drops in disappointment, but before he can press the issue Marinette cuts him off.

"Not in here," she says, "We might wake up my parents." She bites her bottom lip and his eyes are immediately drawn to them. "Meet me on the roof."

He quickly darts his eyes up to meet hers, grateful for the mask that hides his blush. "What?" he replies, blinking a few times.

Marinette furrows her brows, then points a finger to the ceiling. "The _roof_ , kitty cat." She pauses, then asks with a frown, "Is everything alright?"

Adrien stiffens because was Marinette always this perceptive? He stares at her face a little longer, notices the way the corners of her lips are pulled down and the way her eyebrows push themselves together in worry. He doesn't like that look, he decides suddenly. Even if the concern on her face was meant for _him,_ Marinette is supposed to _smile_ like she always does when he spots her in school.

He pulls himself together, musters up some of that Chat Noir confidence, and smirks back at her. "Worried about me, Princess? I'm touched!"

Marinette's eyes blink and her face changes into a scowl before she scoffs (so maybe it wasn't _actually_ a smile, but he could work with scowls. Ladybug usually gave him scowls anyway). She places her hands on hips and narrows her eyes, and something about that action reminds him of his Lady.

 _Wait, what?_

"Just go to the roof, you silly cat."

"As the Princess commands."

So he grins cheekily and bows before honoring her request, a single leap is all it takes for her to reach her rooftop. (He doesn't see the way she shakes her head at his antics, smiling softly while closing her bedroom window). As he waits, Adrien can't help but feel excited. This was his chance to finally talk to Marinette, even if it was behind a mask. He might be able to learn something about her, maybe they'd even have a few things in common, and talk to her about it in school as _Adrien_.

(Okay, so it wouldn't be _that_ easy since it'd probably be weird to bring up something she's never actually told him sans the costume, but at least it's a _start_ ).

He starts thinking of topics to talk about, slowly getting anxious the longer he waits because what if he messes up somehow? What if he brings up a topic that she doesn't like? Or what if he asks a question too personal? What if—

"Sorry for the wait."

Adrien jumps and spins his head to see Marinette climbing onto the roof, a mug in each hand. She closes the hatch with her foot, easing it down carefully so that it wouldn't create any noise, and turns to him. She offers up a mug with a smile, taking a sip from the one in her other hand.

"It gets a little cold at night, so I figured this would help. It's hot chocolate," says Marinette with a little shrug, still smiling at him. She blinks for a second and pulls the mug away. "Wait. You aren't allergic to chocolate, are you?"

He chuckles, plucking the mug from her hand, and shakes his head. This girl was just _full_ of surprises. "Of course not, Princess. Thank you." Adrien lifts the cup to his mouth, and he freaking _purrs_ because he's _never_ had hot chocolate this delicious before. Even if Nathalie buys the most expensive kind and the chef prepares it expertly, it still couldn't compare to this. He's taking another long drink when he catches sight of Marinette's smirk.

"That good, huh?"

He scoffs, "Good? This is _incredible,_ Princess! You made this yourself?"

"No." She shakes her head and rests her arms on the small table, one hand cupped around her steaming mug. "My mom made some earlier."

"Your mom must be an amazing cook."

Marinette grins, "Yeah, she's the best." She cocks her head to the side curiously, "What about your mom?"

He falters, expression falling, and not even Plagg is able to pull out Chat's confidence quick enough before Marinette's hand is resting on his own. His eyes travels to her face, and he flinches under her searching stare.

"I'm sorry, Chat," she says sadly, "I didn't mean to—"

He lifts his hands away and immediately uses them in order to placate the girl. This was not the direction he wanted this conversation to go, he didn't mean to make Marinette upset!

"N-no! Y-you don't have to apologize, Princess!" He rubs the back of his head awkwardly, "You couldn't have known, and anyhow a Princess shouldn't be sad."

Adrien laughs awkwardly, trying to think of a way to get the conversation back to something more lighthearted. Should he say a joke? Or would that be untasteful considering the topic they just brought up? Maybe a pun instead? Puns are always funny, so maybe—

"And why can't a Princess be sad for her friend?"

He freezes, thoughts coming to a complete stop as he turns to look at Marinette. Her arms are crossed, blue eyes narrowed as she waits for his reply. Adrien's mouth falls open but nothing leaves because she just admitted they were friends (okay, so maybe she was talking about being friends with _Chat_ ), and that she was sad _for him_. (Of course he had Nino to talk to, but the two of them never really talk about his mom since it was always a touchy subject.)

"I- I didn't mean it that way, Princess," he replies slowly, ignoring the warm feeling in his chest. "I just meant that it was…too lovely a night to be talking about that kind of thing." Adrien inwardly cringes at how awkward and un-Chat Noir that sounded.

Marinette scrutinizes him under her glare, and for a second Adrien thinks she's going to yell at him, but her shoulders drop and her gaze softens as she quietly asks,

"What was she like?"

He stares, startled. "I- I'm sorry?"

"Your mom, Chat," she clarifies, with a ghost of a smile playing at her lips. "What was she like?"

"She—," Adrien hesitates and looks off to the side. He pictures his mom—dark hair and green eyes the same shade as his, always smiling, always laughing… He thinks back to the picture in his room,

He turns back to Marinette's waiting face, eyes shining and he hopes that the visor on his mask is enough to hide it from her.

"She was amazing."

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 **A/N: ALRIGHT! If you made it this far, thank you very much for sticking around! I don't actually have the other chapters all planned out, I usually just go where the emotions take me. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter; this story will be bounching between Adrien and Marinette's perspectives, so hopefully you'll enjoy that too. This is my first "chaptered" story in a LONG time, so please bare with me.**

 **I'm also not really fond of where I left off, but _c'est la vie._**

 **Thank you again! Cheers!**

 **-LB**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** **I'm back (for the time being anyway). I know it's been a hot minute since I last posted this, but here we are! This was supposed to be longer, but I chopped it into Chapters 2 and 3 because I felt bad for leaving you all hanging for so long. Life just got a little out of hand since I was last posted on here, and it's still a little hectic but I'll try my best to get the next chapter out before the year ends (...maybe, no promises though).**

 **Without further ado, please enjoy!**

* * *

 _part two **  
**_ **ADRIEN**

To say that Adrien was a complete mess by the time he got home that night, is an understatement.

The second he lands inside his room and the transformation falls away, he starts to pace the length of his room, gripping his hair in his hands because _oh my God, why did he do that?!_ He falls back onto his bed with a groan, frowning and pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. He hadn't meant to talk about himself all night ( _or at all!_ )—let alone tell Marinette _anything_ about his mother—but there was just something in her eyes, a familiar certainty that told him that he could trust her, that she wouldn't be like the others who knew.

(That she wouldn't have that same pitying look that every other relative or close family friend sends his way when she's brought up.

He doesn't think he'd be able to handle it if she had.)

 _But she hadn't._

His hands fall from his face to reveal the small smile on his face as he remembers their conversation earlier, arms spread-eagled across his bed and staring at the ceiling.

 **|xxx|**

 _Adrien hasn't really spoken about his mother to anyone except for Nino, but they haven't brought her up since then. There's an odd feeling in his chest that he can't really describe as he recalls how much she loved each and every holiday._

 **Especially** _Christmas._

 _He tells Marinette about how his mom always played Christmas music right when December started despite his and his father's objections (how, even if it annoyed them, the would always smile and never move to turn it off). How she always wore a little Santa hat all month long as she sung and danced along to the music while putting up decorations, and how she always placed an elf hat on his head or reindeer ears on his father's whenever she got the chance._

 _The odd feeling in his chest tightens, but there's just something about the way that Marinette's looking at him that keeps him going._

 _But as he reaches the end, his eyes are glistening again and he's looking down at his hands because he doesn't want Marinette to see. He stares down at his hands gripping the now-empty mug, staring at the black leather gloves that cover them like a second skin with a frown, because despite the costume he's wearing right now, he feels more like_ **Adrien** _than Chat Noir._

" _She, uh," and tightens his grip on the mug, "She's gone now." And Adrien flinches because_ **that's not what he meant,** _and_ **oh my God, does that sounds bad** _and he shakes his head._

" _Not- she's not_ **gone** — _not like that, anyway," he quickly amends, finally looking up at the bluenette. "I mean, she- she disappeared, but she's not—!"_

 _And he doesn't notice the way Marinette's hand is on his own, warmth seeping through his gloves and into his own hands, because he's so busy trying to make sure she knows that his mom isn't— because_ **she can't be** —!

 _She squeezes his hand, and his mouth shuts immediately. He searches her stare unblinkingly because he can feel his eyes water and he refuses to cry in front of Marinette because he's_ **Chat Noir** , _for crying out loud. Adrien doesn't see the pity he's looking for, the pity he's_ **expecting** _to be there, instead he sees understanding and the odd feeling on his chest grows._

 _His father never mentions her anymore, Adrien finally says, so he stops mentioning her too._

 _Marinette doesn't say anything, but her hand squeezes his own again and he can feel his heart beating in his chest. Heat rises to his face because he's embarrassed and thankful all at once and — isn't this technically considered hand-holding?_

" _Chat—"_

 **BEEPBEEPBEEP—**

 _And at that moment Adrien has never been so angry and so relieved that his transformation has a time limit._

|xxx|

In class on Monday, Adrien can't look Marinette in the eye.

Well, he _can_ , but then his face turns violently red all the way up to his ears and he doesn't need Nino teasing him, or sending him _those_ looks because _yes, Nino, Marinette is really nice and sweet,_ and _yes, Nino, Marinette_ _ **is**_ _pretty cute, but I just want to be_ _ **friends.**_

(At least, that's what he keeps telling himself).

Besides, he loves _Ladybug_.

So Adrien sticks to limiting his eye contact with her as much as possible that day, not noticing the way Marinette's face falls just a little when all he does is shoot her a very awkward and quick smile as she says good morning to him. Nino kicks him under their desk for being, but not meaning to be, rude and Adrien sends him a small glare before kicking him back. They end up having a kicking war until they both end up kicking one another a little too hard ( _"OW!")_ and gain the attention of the whole class.

Miss Bustier arches a brow, pausing her lesson long enough to give each of them an unamused look which they both grin back at sheepishly. Miss Bustier gives one final stern look before continuing the lesson, and Nino and Adrien keep to themselves.

Halfway through the lesson though, Nino tosses him a note.

 _Everything okay, man?_

Adrien glances up at their professor before quickly scrawling back his own message underneath Nino's.

 _Yeah, why?_

 _You sure? Because I saw the way you looked at Marinette._

 _I wasn't trying to be rude, Nino. I'm just having an off day._ Adrien doesn't mention his sudden embarrassment around Marinette, because there is no way he's having that conversation with Nino. _I know I should have said good morning to her at least._

 _Not that._

 _Then what?_

He doesn't like the way Nino is smirking as he passes him the note again, and his eyes widen as he reads his friend's message, his face warming once more.

 _You were blushing._

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 **A/N:** **I know it's short (at least 2 and a half pages, I think?) It /would/ have been 4-5 pages, but I was so stuck I chopped it up so that I could get a better feel for it and where I wanted to take this story. It's also been a long time since I've watched Miraculous Ladybug (SEASON 2 IS ALREADY HERE!) so I'll probably rewatch Season 1 and the watch Season 2 as soon as I can so I can fall in love with these nerds all over again and get a better grip on their characters.**

 **Please let me know what you think! Reviews are always appreciated!**


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